A Protest Vote Is Still Only a Protest Vote

Europe's protest parties are on the march. The U.K. Independent Party, a fringe group once dismissed by Prime Minister David Cameron as "fruitcakes, nutters and closet racists," last week succeeded in taking 26% of the vote in local council elections, second only to the Conservatives. In Italy, the Five-Star Movement led by former comedian Beppe Grillo took 26% of the vote in February's elections. If there was an election in Greece now, 25% say they would vote for the radical leftist party Syriza and 10% would support the far-right Golden Dawn party. In France, the National Front took 18% of the votes in...